Beer Blog Compendium

#ukpubs#wetherspoon
In Mark Thomas’ book ‘The People’s Manifesto’ it is suggested that the Daily Mail should be forced to print the words “The Paper That Supported Hitler” on its masthead. Not a bad idea me thinks. I point this out because papers of their ilk are the enemy within.

Wetherspoon’s yesterday announced that they plan to open at 7am to capture what they presumably see as a lucrative breakfast trade. Rather tongue in cheek they suggested that they wanted to sell more breakfasts than McDonalds. Good luck to JDW I say. This is a creative use of the pub, and I hope it catches on with others. But what is the Daily Mail’s headline?
No it wasn’t Wetherspoon’s encouraging lesbian immigrant benefit scroungers, surprisingly, but “Bacon, eggs... and a beer”. Tossers!

This sort of propaganda really needs to be challenged at every opportunity.

This Is Skegness
The family-run, Batemans Brewery of Wainfleet scooped the award when winners of the competition held by by the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) were ...

St Austell Brewery beers have scooped Gold and Silver Awards at the highly prestigious Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) National Beer Competition.

The hugely popular Proper Job was awarded the Gold Award, making it the best bottle conditioned beer produced by an independent brewery in the UK. The brewery’s Black Prince took the Silver Award in the mild beer category.

It is the second year running that St Austell Brewery has been successful at the SIBA competition – with the Brewery coming away with an impressive haul of four Gold Awards last year.

James Staughton, Managing Director of St Austell Brewery, said: “This is a great accolade, not only for our brewing team, but also for our new bottling line and the team that run it.

“We take great pride in all our beers, so it is fantastic to have this recognised at a national level and in such an important competition.”

The brewery has had a successful run of awards over the last year, including having been voted UK’s Regional Brewer of the Year at The Publican Awards 2009. This recognised not only the quality of its beers but also its vibrant and successful estate of 174 pubs and award-winning staff, food and training.

Head Brewer Roger Ryman was also named the Institute of Brewing and Distilling Brewer of the Year and Proper Job was awarded a silver medal in the ‘Golden Ales’ category of the Champion Beer of Britain competition at the Great British Beer Festival, held at Earls Court in London.

Proper Job IPA was launched in 2006 and in four years has proved hugely popular by becoming St Austell Brewery’s second-biggest selling beer after the Brewery’s flagship Tribute Ale. Roger Ryman said the inspiration for Proper Job was the India Pale Ales of the 19th Century, which were strong, robust, well-hopped beers brewed specially for shipment to the colonies, including India.

It is available on draught or in bottles in many St Austell Brewery pubs and free houses and in bottles in local Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys, Waitrose, Spar and Co-op stores.

Or order online at www.staustellbrewery.co.uk

Ends

The Publican
They are obliged to take Tiger, Everards' flagship ale, and are tied on lagers, ciders and bottled beers. Rent works out at about £30000 a year “which sits ...

OfficialWire (press release)
The announcement comes shortly after SABMiller dropped out of the running, indicating that, as previously suggested , Heineken had a greater desire to ...

The Publican
Wine and beer festivals had proved enormously successful, Hutson added, with three million pints of cask ale and the same number of glasses of wine sold ...

#ukpubs
Those of you, like me, who subscribe to Google Alerts (other alert services are available) can’t have failed to notice the large number of blogs by ppcs* proclaiming allegiance to CAMRA’s Beer Drinkers and Pub Goers Charter. It would seem that parliamentary candidates of all persuasions are only too ready to please all of the people all of the time. I suppose when you are standing for parliament you must be desperate to win over as many people as possible.

The charter is a minimalist précis of much of CAMRA’s more recent policies, some of which I agree with, some that I don’t. At the risk of being accused of CAMRA bashing I think that the charter is a bit woolly and vaguely vague. In a way this will no doubt achieve what it set out to do, namely appeal across party lines to as many candidates as possible. CAMRA summarise the charter thus:

1) Promote the interests of Britain’s pub goers
2) Champion well-run community pubs
3) Rebalance alcohol taxation to support beer and pubs
4) Reform the beer tie to deliver a fair deal for consumers
5) Support the role of well-run pubs as solutions to alcohol misuse

What exactly is the definition of a well-run community pub? I’m not sure. Is it a ground breaking document? I don’t think so. But in fairness I suspect it never set out to be. It is a plan for all seasons. Sadly I would have hoped for a Beer Drinkers and Pub Goers Charter to be something a bit meatier. A slight but significant paperback that could be carried at all times and referred to in earnest at every pub based dilemma or conjecture. But sadly not.

Having said that it is helping to publicise real ale, and as we all know there is no such thing as bad publicity. So a result then?

The full charter can be found here: http://campaign.publicaffairsbriefing.co.uk/home.aspx?cid=2be1237f-cfc3-49b9-9cad-26d7c5107a9b

*prospective parliamentary candidates

Reuters UK
... cut price meals such as ham, egg and chips for 2.99 pounds and a pint of Greene King IPA beer for 99 pence proved attractive to cash-strapped consumers. ...

» Central Government ...
"Minimum pricing would have other benefits, unlike rises in (alcohol) duty it would benefit traditional pubs and this is supported by the Campaign for Real Ale. "It is true to say minimum pricing would be more likely to support your ...

Press Gazette
“The public smoking ban, while welcomed by most people who were fed up with breathing in second-hand smoke while enjoying a pint or meal, has also taken a ...

Reuters
AB InBev gained its 50.2 percent economic stake and 43.9 percent voting stake in Modelo after InBev's acquisition of Anheuser-Busch in late 2008.

When I first saw this Guardian headline I thought, “What a waste of good ale”. In principle I’m not against throwing beer over a Tory, but it really should be some nasty Euro-fizz lager and not an ale. Then I read that it was John Smith's Extra Smooth. Well that’s all right then I suppose!

It would seem that a disgruntled attention seeking Tory supporter who couldn’t get the ear of his MP threw his toys out of the pram. In this case his toy was a pint of nitro-keg. Whilst I wouldn’t want to encourage the throwing of beer over a politician, please remember that the nastier the beer the stronger the insult.

Bizjournals.com
Craft breweries are defined as breweries that produce less than 2 million ... “Beer lovers continue to find great value and enjoyment in fuller flavoured ...

"Hundreds of pubs and venues, UK-wide. Thousands of people. Same questions. Same night. Same buzz. The Event? The World's Biggest Pub Quiz!
The Family Holiday Association is organising the World’s Biggest Pub Quiz on 25 March 2010 to raise funds for and awareness of our vital work changing lives by giving a break to young families coping with difficult circumstances.

Thousands of people around the UK will be taking part! It's all about having a great night out, being a part of a nationwide event and supporting a worthy charity."

For more information go to http://www.bigpubquiz.org/

The Publican
In the latest edition of SIBA magazine Journal Pugh wrote: "I hope that we all have the best interests of cask ale brewing at heart and we should be asking ...